A different decision
by Bl4ckHunter
Summary: One-shot story. Alternate ending to Arrow 5x11. Dinah declines Oliver's offer in order to find herself again.


**Something that occured to me after re-watching _Dexter_ and seeing one particular scene and it made me think a little about Oliver's and Dinah Drake's interactions in 5x11, when she was introduced the first time in the show.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own _DC Comics_ or the CW TV shows _Arrow_, _The Flash_, _Legends of Tomorrow_, _Supergirl _or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.**

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"I can't." Dinah said.

"Why not?" Oliver asked.

"The past three years I've been trying to avenge Vince and when I finally killed Sonus, I've spent the whole night thinking about what had happened to me. Hold onto it. And whatever was driving me… it's gone." Dinah said. "That darkness that had been keeping me going when…" She tapped her neck, referring to her powers. "I don't feel it anymore. And then I realized… I finally looked back and realized what I had allowed myself to become. All those people I killed…" She looked away in shame, realizing what she had done. "I realized that if Vince could see what I had done in his name…"

"Don't think that." Oliver said, trying to comfort her. "I know how you feel and trust me, when I tell you this, blaming yourself and beating yourself up over whatever dark things you've done in the past, will not help."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you." Dinah said. "I understand why you came to me but I can't. I don't want to do this anymore. What I've been doing. What you do."

"You don't have to." Oliver pleaded.

"But you do." Dinah countered. "Because you see the light and goodness in people, even if it's not in them. And you tried to pull me back from that edge, no matter how far gone I might have been. Looking back, I should've appreciated that."

"Dinah…" Oliver trailed off, not sure what to say.

"What you need is someone, who is a hero. A good person, who can bring out the light in the darkest places of everyone else. And that's not who I am. It's who Laurel was." Dinah said. "I'm sorry. Honestly… even I'm not sure who I am now. And I don't know if I can find my way, if I…"

"It's OK. I understand." Oliver said as Dinah nodded.

"Thanks." Dinah smiled.

"Wherever you go, I hope you can find your peace." Oliver shook his hand with Dinah.

"I hope you can keep your promise to Laurel." Dinah said as she left Oliver's office as he considered, whether he could keep the promise he had made to Laurel as he contemplated visiting her doppelganger in A.R.G.U.S. cell.

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**At this point, I'm mixed about Dinah Drake. I kept an open mind around her in Season 5, despite that it was some lame attempt at appeasing the fans outraged about Earth-1 Laurel's death and what Felicity did with Black Siren in 5x10, which BTW was freaking stupid and Guggenheim's stupid Felicity pandering.**

**I think Dinah was a fine character in Season 5 but Season 6 ruined her with the revelation of her lover Vince being Vigilante and it's quite stupid that Dinah bought his bullshit regarding criminals, when Oliver had more or less set her straight in Season 5 and Season 6 also ruined her, when she tried to kill Black Siren and got Thea and Quentin into crossfire for killing Vince, when Black Siren had shown more redeeming qualities than Vince, such as regaining some of her humanity and growing fond of Quentin, unlike Vince, who showed almost no redeeming qualities, save for some double agent stuff which wasn't all that good, plus don't forget that Vigilante always disregarded collateral damage and getting civilians caught into crossfire.**

**Whether it really was Vince or not, after becoming the Black Canary, Dinah would try to stop Vigilante, whoever it was, IMO but her siding with Vince was more of the Oliver hate and stupid drama from MG/WM's side.**

**And I think it's a little dumb that Oliver would try to recruit a bloodthirsty vigilante out on revenge, while trying to talk her out on her vendetta, plus her joining Oliver's crusade freshly after ending her vendetta sounds a little stupid. Hasn't Oliver learned from what happened with Helena? * face palm ***

**Dinah seemed like an OK character though in Season 5 and at least the first half of Seasons 6 and 7, so I'm mixed about her, however, I wonder whether she would actually accept Oliver's offer freshly after she avenged Vince. While Oliver would offer to help her, I doubt she would quickly accept his offer and instead would go for some soul searching and self-healing like what Oliver and Sara have done.**

**So, what do you guys think?**

**Please review and let me know if you have enjoyed this one-shot.**

**With regards**

**_Bl4ckHunter_**


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